Broken Hearts (HailClan Challenge)
by Stormy Ships Jisbon
Summary: Pinefrost's mate keeps vanishing in the morning, and reappearing at sunhigh. Curious as to where he goes, Pinefrost follows him. But what she sees shocks her, and her mate's dark secret is revealed. First challenge for HailClan, please review! :D


Pinefrost purred quietly and snuggled even closer to her mate.

She wished she could stay there forever, snuggled next to her mate, listening to the rain patter softly on the roof of their leaf-den.

The two RainClan cats were out in the forest, lying in what they called the leaf-den. It was right next to a large tree, and the ground was covered by soft, green moss. Overhead were several thick, arching green leaves that provided a nice roof.

Pinefrost and Brambletail would come to their leaf-den all the time, sometimes to talk, other times to just sleep. It was also the spot where Brambletail had asked to be her mate, so it was a very important and sacred place to both Pinefrost and Brambletail.

Pinefrost had just started to doze off, when she heard Brambletail clambering to his paws.

She was about to stand up and ask him where he was going, but decided against it and waited until the large brown to had left the shelter of the den.

Pinefrost opened her eyes and watched him stalk away from the den without looking back.

_He's probably just gone to make dirt,_ Pinefrost told herself.

She waited for a little bit longer, and still, Brambletail didn't reappear. Sighing, she heaved herself to her paws, and padded out into the rain.

His scent was quickly fading because of the rain, so Pinefrost quickly followed his scent, hoping that she would be able to catch up with him soon.

The scent trail wound it's way through the entire territory, through bushes drenched with rain, through the bubbling creek that was almost overflowing due to all of the rain that the forest had had in the past half moon, and even down the muddy slope, which Pinefrost had slid down, her normally brown-and-white pelt now completely brown.

_He's trying to make sure he doesn't get followed, _Pinefrost realized, as she pushed her way through yet another large clump of ferns.

The trail ended at a large pile of boulders. Pinefrost sniffed everywhere, but she couldn't pick up the tom's scent.

She reluctantly turned around and padded home. _Where is he?_ she wondered, as she padded through RainClan's dense forest.

* * *

"Pinefrost! Oh my StarClan, what happened to you?" Pinefrost's sister, Amberflower, raced over. "Your pelt is a mess! What were you doing?"

"I slipped and fell down a muddy hill," Pinefrost mumbled.

"Well come here then, and let me fix up your pelt." Amberflower nudged her sister over to a corner of the camp, where a large piece of wood provided a shelter from the rain.

"What were you up to all day?" Amberflower asked as she groomed her sister's pelt.

"Oh, nothing, I was with Brambletail all day," Pinefrost lied, licking the mud of off one of her front paws.

"Oh?" Amberflower paused her grooming for a moment, before continuing.

Amberflower always seemed to know what her sister was feeling, so if she knew that Pinefrost was lying, she didn't say anything.

"Did you talk to Ravenflight today?" Pinefrost asked her sister curiously, once her pelt was clean again.

"Yes, I did. He said my eyes were pretty," Amberflower purred.

"Are you two mates then?" Pinefrost asked.

"No. But I hope that-"

Pinefrost suddenly jumped to her paws. "I have to go on patrol, sorry," she mewed apologetically, as she heard her name being called.

"See you later then," Amberflower mewed, watching her sister race out of camp after the patrol.

* * *

Pinefrost yawned and awoke. Without even opening her eyes, she knew Brambletail was gone. Every morning he would disappear, and then come back at sun-high. This had been going on for half a moon. Pinefrost hadn't had a decent conversation with him in forever.

Pinefrost rose to her paws, still yawning. She had barely had any sleep the night before, her dreams filled with darkness.

She looked out of the warriors den, and to her shock, she noticed Brambletail swiftly sliding through the camp entrance.

Pinefrost quickly scrambled after him, being careful to not be spotted. She followed him through the territory, and soon she realized that he was heading towards the GrassClan border, and also, the pile of boulders.

She watched from a distance as he slowly climbed up the boulders- and disappeared.

Pinefrost blinked. She slowly crept out from where she was hiding behind a tree, and climbed onto the top of the pile of boulders. She looked around, but Brambletail was gone.

Pinefrost looked down. That was when she noticed the crack in between two boulders. She squeezed through the small gap, and landed on an area of dirt. She had narrowly landed right in the hole.

Brambletail's scent was extremely strong, which meant that he had been this way. Taking a deep breath, she jumped into the hole.

Pinefrost let out a small gasp and landed hard, making stinging pain spread through her body.

When she looked up, she could see only a small crack of sunlight.

Shrugging, she stood up and looked around. To her left, there was a dark tunnel sloping downwards, and to her right was probably something that used to be a tunnel, but was blocked off by a boulder.

Pinefrost slowly stalked down the dark tunnel, which was getting increasingly darker. Pinefrost could only feel her whiskers lightly brushing the side of the cave as it continued to slope downwards.

She felt fear boiling up inside of her, but pushed it down. After what seemed like forever, she heard two cats purring. She froze for a moment, heart pounding.

_Breathe. It's probably two rogues or something._

She slowly crept forward, feeling a light breeze on her face.

The tunnel opened up into a large cave with a small hole in the roof.

In one corner of the cave, was a large mossy nest, with two cats occupying it. One was a large brown tom with black paws and blue eyes, and the other was a pretty silver tabby she-cat with pale green eyes.

_He's betraying me!_

"I love you, Silverstripe," Brambletail purred. "You're so beautiful, and perfect, and I'm sure our kits will be too."

_Kits! She's expecting his kits!_ Pinefrost abruptly turned around and raced away, barely able to contain a sob of grief.

She scrambled out of the tunnel, and practically slid down the pile of boulders, before running back to the camp. She fell into a corner of the camp, unable to stop sobbing. Amberflower was on patrol, and the camp was almost completely empty.

_I can't believe it. He told me he would only love me, and now he's gone and gotten another she-cat pregnant!_

At that moment, the bramble barrier rustled, and Brambletail stepped through, two mice in his jaws.

Pinefrost felt rage boiling over. She stood up, hackles raised, and stalked over to her so-called "mate."

"Oh, hello, Pinefrost," Brambletail purred, dropping his prey on the fresh-kill pile.

Pinefrost unsheathed her claws and clawed the large tom across the face, making blood gush out.

"That's for betraying me and taking that filthy GrassClan cat as a mate!" Pinefrost yowled, furious.

"What? I would never do that." Brambletail seemed oblivious to the pain.

"Liar! I heard you in the cave. She's expecting your kits! You're a traitor! You deserve to be exiled!" Pinefrost clawed the tom again and again, her anger spilling out.

Brambletail hissed at the pain, but still, he didn't move. "Why are you spreading lies?" he spat, blue eyes filled with hatred.

"They aren't lies." Amberflower suddenly appeared beside her sister. "I saw you too, snuggling up to that stupid cat. _Silverstripe._" Amberflower spat the name.

"My kits will never recognize you as their father," Pinefrost snarled. "You're just a useless tom who toys with she-cats' emotions and leaves them hanging."

"Is this true, Brambletail? Silverstripe of GrassClan is your mate?" Gorsestar asked from the entrance of his den.

Brambletail lashed his tail. "Yes," he growled, glaring at his leader.

"Well then, I have no choice but to exile you. You can go see if GrassClan will take you in, but if any of my cats find you in our territory, they have the right to either chase you out or kill you."

Pinefrost bared her teeth at her old mate. "If I find you, I will flay you!" she spat as he turned around and stalked towards the camp entrance. Just before he left the camp for the last time, he turned around. "This isn't over," he snarled, eyes blazing. "Mark my words, I will get my revenge."

**Yay! My first challenge for HailClan is complete! Only two more challenges to go! :) Constructive criticism is welcomed! :) **

**-Stormy**


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